Name

Year

Credit

credited As

No two elements in Hollywood make more sense together than Ridley Scott and epic, sprawling period dramas. After all, who better to direct an action packed, intensely dramatic, incredibly serious film about Moses leading the Jews out of slavery in Egypt than the man who made Gladiator and Black Hawk Down? Unfortunately, that's about the only thing that seems to make any sense about his latest film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, a movie that promises to live up to its poster. The first trailer for the epic sees Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton (who are Welsh and Australian, respectively) face off over the people of Egypt.
At least, that's what we think is going on. To be honest, we were a bit distracted by the sheer insanity of the trailer to really follow along with the plot. No matter how hard we tried to pay attention to the exposition that the dramatic voice-over was revealing or focus on the intensity of the torch-lit glares, there would be something else that drew our attention and made us stop everything we were doing in order to exclaim "Wait, what?!" In a desperate attempt to make sense of everything that's going on in Exodus: Gods and Kings, we've rounded up all of the most surprising, confusing and downright insane moments in the trailer.
0:13 – Christian Bale’s Impeccably Trimmed Facial Hair Was ancient Egypt particularly well known for its barbers? Because the angles on that goatee are distractingly perfect. Surely Moses has more important things to deal with than making sure that is facial hair looks pristine at all times... like, say, freeing the slaves? Bale doesn't even show up to the Oscars this well groomed.
0: 19 – Joel Edgerton’s Painted-On Eyebrows Was the makeup team worried that audiences wouldn’t be able to find Edgerton’s eyes after he shaved his head? Did they really think we needed two clear arrows pointing at them at all times, so that we can better appreciate the intensity of his gaze? Did they confuse old hieroglyphs for an accurate representation of what people’s eyebrows looked like then, and attempt to match his makeup to a cave wall?
0:24 – What Accent Is That Supposed to Be? It’s clearly an attempt at the standard “British gravitas” that is a fundamental requirement of any epic period piece, but then towards the end of the line, it takes a strange detour into what we can only assume is an attempt at Egyptian, but which really sounds more like someone from a vaguely European country speaking with his mouth full.
0:27 – Hang on, Was There an Epic Battle in the Original Story?There was definitely fire, we know that, but as far as we remembered it came from a burning bush. Was there this much swordplay in the Bible? Did Ridley Scott just grow up reading a different version of the story or was this all in there, just buried between the lines? Maybe we’ve all been wrong this whole time…
20th Century Fox Film
0:31 – Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton Are in Two Completely Different Movies Edgerton clearly thinks he’s starring in a shot-for-shot remake of a classic Hollywood epic, complete with period-accurate – well, for the 1950s and ‘60s, at least – makeup and the kind of voice that proclaims, “I am a Serious Actor. Respect Me.” Whereas Bale is clearly playing off-duty Bruce Wayne, who has been hanging out in his desert mansion for a while in order to build up his base tan.
0:41 – Is Someone Casting a Spell on that Baby? Why else would you wave your hands over its head? What did this baby do to warrant a curse like that? It didn’t harm anyone, it’s just a baby. What movie do you think this is, Maleficent? Also, why would you wake up a sleeping baby? It probably just got to sleep and now it’s going to be up all night, which means someone’s going to be exhausted when they show up for battle tomorrow. Nobody wants sleepy soldiers.
1:06 – Wait, Sigourney Weaver Is in This? Wow, they didn’t even try to cast anyone who looks like they could actually be from this region, did they? Also, is she playing someone’s mother? Because Sigourney Weaver is far too young to play either Christian Bale or Joel Edgerton’s mother, and yet here she is, looking authoritative and resplendent, like she’s going to yell at Moses and Ramses to stop fighting and clean up their wing of the palace, without even smudging her perfect eyeliner.
1:14 – Moses’ Casual Reveal of the Plagues About to Terrorize Egypt“Oh, hey Ramses. Don’t freak out or anything, but there’s something really terrifying headed your way, and I’m not gonna stop it or anything, but you’re basically screwed. No worries, though. I’m sure it will all work out fine. Well, it was good talking to you, hope the hail doesn’t knock you out. See you at the family reunion!”
1:22 – Christian Bale’s “Serious Archer” Face If you’re leading an army into battle against their greatest foe, the king who has held them captive for generations, you might want to find a facial expression that’s a bit more intimidating and inspiring than just opening your mouth as wide as you can and refusing to blink. You were Batman. You should have a perfect fighting face ready for any occasion.
1:30 – The Plainest Title Cards of All Time After a minute and a half of sweeping panoramas, epic battle scenes, stunning visual effects and a literal river of blood, the trailer fades out into the titles… which are just thin silver letters on a black background. Did they run out of money for titles thanks to the massive effects budget? If you’re going to wimp out on the titles, at least try and pick an interesting font. It’s advertising 101.
And we didn't even touch on the fact that Aaron Paul is playing Moses' second in command. Exodus: Gods and Kings opens in theaters on December 12.
Follow @hollywood_com
Follow @julesemm

X Factor competes with American Idol in many not so subtle ways. It’s got the obvious: carbonated, sugary beverage sponsor, pop singers as judges, and Simon Cowell (who’d be a legitmate bragging point if the ratings were higher). But this week, they pulled out the big gun: bring on a famous person’s daughter.
You may remember that during January’s American Idol auditions, we were introduced to a young woman named Jane. She had a decent voice and her father just happened to be Jim (freaking) Carey. No big deal. She went on a talent search in an effort to win success on her own, without using her father’s connections to attain her goals. It was admirable, the problem was that she wasn’t nearly as good of a singer as her competitors were. Still, Idol did a little dance around her for the time she spent on the show throughout the audition rounds.
Now, enter the final week of the X Factor auditions, in which they play with time like a rubber band and hop back to San Francisco auditions, where we started in episode one, to meet a young woman named Sophie Tweed-Simmons. She introduces herself as a student and shows up in a black SUV with a chauffeur, forcing we, the students of reality TV, to assume she’s going to be nothing more than a rich brat. It turns out she’s the daughter of Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed. Just like Jim Carey’s daughter before her, she wants to do this on her own. (Strange then, that she brought her famous father with her. But we’ll move on from there.)
Now, so far, X Factor and Idol are almost on par in the “Children of a Celebrity” category, except that all we got on Idol was a phone call from Mr. Carey. Here, we get the actual Gene Simmons. Plus - and oh, is there a plus - we get a one-sided rivalry concocted with the help of good editing and one young woman’s serious attitude problem.
Meet Tara Simon, a 27-year-old vocal coach and chronic woo-woo-er who should know better. But she doesn’t and she spends the entirety of her on-deck time making fun of sweet Sophie for getting by on her dad’s fame. Yes, Tara. That’s clearly why she even bothered to come to a cattle call in a San Francisco parking lot full of crazy people. Because she’s a privileged brat who's succeeding on her father’s music industry connections. Music execs always send you to a reality show before they really consider you. Oh wait, no they don’t, because that’s insane.
The producers, however, are keen to promote this insane “rivalry” and put both girls’ auditions back-to-back. Demi recognizes Sophie because she knows Nick Simmons, and just like that, the judges all realize who Sophie is and her face drops like she just found out sunshine was discontinued. Besides the fact that she didn’t know “Make You Feel My Love” was actually by Bob Dylan and not Adele, her rendition of the song was sweet and sultry, though it did lack that extra punch you seek in a famous singer. Still, they’ve fawned all over lesser singers on this show and she’s a joy to watch. When voting time comes, L.A. is unconvinced and delivers the first judges’ spilt of the night. He says no. However, the others aren’t quite as hard on her and send her on through on the basis that she needs work, but she’s got the goods.
Take that, singing Regina George! Right? Right?! Wrong. Just when you think they’ve pulled the usual reality show schtick and played up the sweet girl who’s actually pretty terrific while the mean girl is sure to be full of herself and awful (hello, episode one of this season), that’s not the case.
Just before she takes the stage, Tara talks even more crap and waltzes onto the stage calling herself the Simon Cowell of her vocal studio, waving her arms claiming she’s the next Christina Aguilera (whoa, dream big) and chirping that she’s primed to take over one of the ladies’ judging seats. Thankfully, Simon tells her to shut up and sing, just in time for her to not be the worst singer ever.
And this is when we have a dilemma. Hey, X Factor, you just set us up to hate this girl. She’s the worst kind of human, according to everything you’ve showed us. She’s mean, spiteful, proud. She’s cheesy and yells like she’s a caricature of a country star. There’s no way she’ll be good. And then, she’s still over-the-top, but she too has the raw goods. She’s simply the victim of over-training. She gets four “yeses.” Damnit. You know what this means, don’t you? This rivalry is going to be milked for at least a few boot camp episodes. At least Simon knows that she’s an “utter drama queen.”
Next: All aboard the insanity train!The rest of the episode was colored with even more absurdity: splicing in newscasters like Superman is about to swoop down and save a group of young ladies in mortal danger, staged Demi-love, Simon on a scooter, and Britney’s “prank” on the judges’ assistant which consisted of simply asking the poor kid to do annoying useless tasks. Oh no! Don’t make him go out looking for a stupid hat! That’s definitely not demeaning and probably not any different from anything else you usually ask for. Later, when we find out the thrilling conclusion of this saga, our reward is Simon in a tiara and an unrelenting sense that Britney might own the best leather jacket ever. Seriously, I want it. Where can I get it?
Finally, we were treated to a string of folks with potential, some of whom are reminiscent of other famous singers, and another set of folks who are so bad, we're left with no choice other than cursing the producers for including them in this two-hour engagement.
First up, Adonis, the bandana-ed wonder and his “uh-ing” friend Jon. Yes, all Jon can do onstage is say “uh.” Riveting stuff. They attempt “Hello” by Lionel Richie, and by attempt, I mean the wildly inaccurately and probably self-named Adonis wailed onstage while his friend provided the appropriate amount of grunting support while Britney cackled and screamed “Oh, gawd.” And if that and the audience’s ubiquitous booing wasn’t enough, we actually had to watch the whole panel tell them no.
After a string of tragedies including a girl with a tragic case of oversized coat with short shorts and no singing ability, a guy who confused himself with a Backstreet Boy turned russian dancer, a girl so boring she put us to sleep with a single note, a slutty Charlie Chaplin, and a steampunk sad sack who cried his way off the stage, we were greeted with a refreshing sight: a human being.
Fifteen-year-old Dinah Jane, made me feel old by admitting she used to sing “Oops I Did It Again” at age four. When the soundtrack switched gears to Selena Gomez’ “Who Says” it was obvious she is going to be good. And then she lathered it on with a story about her 20-person family living in a four-bedroom house. Luckily, her talent delivers on this classic reality show promise. She sings “If I Were a Boy” and she’s a little over dramatic, but she’s got the aura and the raw goods: a very full, mature tone. She just needs to learn a little more control, and the judges are willing to give her that chance.
Next up is Aaron Ray, a 16-year-old Ohio-native who was cut from group rounds last year. He’s adorable and grounded and of course Demi thinks he’s cute. Underage alert! He sings an original song, but it’s clear he’s been listening to a lot of Chris Brown. He’s a little shaky, but he’s got Demi and Britney giggling like teen girls while the actual teen girls squeal in the audience. Demi looks like she’s going to take a bite right out of him. Mission accomplished: yeses all around.
A series of good singers including Little Suzy country singer, the charming and cute 16-year-old Nick Perelli (he does have one hell of an ugly-cry though), the living personification of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, and a rap duo comprised of a man with a stuffed animal on his arm and a Milli Vanilli zombie build us up.
And then it all falls down. We meet Changyi Li, age 52 with a serious aging complex. She’s dressed like Shirley Temple sailor and says she wants to be like Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Britney right before she absolutely butchers “My Heart Will Go On.” And while I could regale you with the tales of the judges’ reactions, I’m drawing the line. This practice should have died with Idol circa 2005. This is just cruel, producers, and I won’t participate. The poor woman is sent home after witnessing an entire stadium laughing in her face.
When we skip over to Greensboro, North Carolina, we’re greeted with Draco Malfoy, faux hawk edition. Austin Carini has girls walking up to him like he’s Justin Bieber. The producers clearly put these fame-mongering little girls up to their task to ask this pimply kid for his autograph. He’s not even on TV yet and he’s just some dopey kid. Of course, when he gets on stage, it’s clear he’s been studying his idols: Bieber and One Direction. He’s an alright singer and he gets the girls going. All you need to be a teen hearthrob is fake charm and a decent voice. Oh and a cute face. Maybe some stupid hair. L.A. points out that his schtick isn’t all that special, but they still send him through on hope. That’s all we need, another kid who hopes he can be the next Bieber. There aren’t enough squealing teenagers at concerts across the country.
Next: Meet Donnie and Marie go to Wet Seal.And then, we’re disgusted more than we thought possible. Jaime, a pop duo made up of a boyfriend and girlfriend with magnetic lips take the stage. They’re basically like Donnie and Marie go to Wet Seal. ”We wake up and stare into eachothers eyes for 20 minutes” and “then we sing all day” - these are actual words they say to the cameras. When they kiss onstage, Britney has no qualms about casting some serious shade. And it only gets worse when they deliver their original song and dance inadvertently inspired by the work of S Club 7. In case you couldn’t guess, they were sent packing.
Finally, we got to end on a few high notes: David Corey and Daryl Black. First up is David, who’s basically a gruff Bruno Mars. And surprise of all surprises: he sings a Bruno Mars song. The good thing is that he actually does it pretty well, taking on the upper register challenges with ease. I’m not sure why his song made Britney break down, but his four yeses were certainly deserved.
Next, Daryl is married with two teenage kids and steps up to the plate with “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes. He looks like some regular Joe, but presents a deconstructed version of the song that allows him to appear more hip while exercising his strength: true R&amp;B flavor. He’s so good, Britney gives him her happy, squinty pixie face and Simon compares him to Nat King Cole. Now look, Nat King Cole was a velvet-voiced god among men, so let’s not be hasty, Simon. Daryl is good. Let’s wait until he start singing on the real stage with a little training before we start throwing around ego-boosters we can’t take back.
But, we can’t end with a pleasant, good singer. Nay. This is reality television. The penultimate auditions episode drops us with 13-year-old Trevor Moran, who has so much energy the atmosphere spontaneously bursts into a round of “Call me Maybe.” Then he gets sick and the paramedics have to come, and with zero shame, the show uses it as the sole teaser for tomorrow’s final episode of the auditions. Why’d you have to go and ruin everything, X Factor? Is it time for boot camp yet?
Follow Kelsea on Twitter @KelseaStahler
[Photo Credit: Fox]
More:
'X Factor' Recap: Seeking Fire and Rain
'X Factor' Recap: Trouble, Trouble, Trouble
'X Factor' Premiere Part 2: You Can't Be Pretty and Talented

Power producer Neal Moritz’ (Green Hornet Fast &amp; Furious) company is called Original Film which is ironic because he hasn’t made a truly unique motion picture in some time. His latest effort Battle: Los Angeles isn’t groundbreaking by any stretch of the imagination but packs enough punch to leave you saying “Thank you sir may I have another?”
Jonathan Liebesman (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) directs this massive movie about a race of aliens colonizing our planet but as the title suggests the action is centered on the City of Angels. Instead of watching the world at war we witness the American military’s last stand on the West Coast by following a single squad of soldiers on the ground as they fight their way through the city to pick up scattered civilians before the Air Force levels Los Angeles. 2nd Lt. William Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez) leads the troop but is too young to be calling the shots in a cataclysmic event like this. Thank heavens Squad Sgt. Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) was called back in for one last mission because it doesn’t take long for the rest of the battalion to realize that the reluctant hero is their best chance for survival.
It’s a good thing that Liebesman and his technical crew are on the top of their game in Battle: LA because most of the other aspects of the production are just downright foolish. Writer Chris Bertolini took the framework from a handful of classic war movies and applied them to his script resulting in highly predictable scenarios and a pace that marches to the beat of past genre entries like Independence Day and Black Hawk Down. His dialogue filled with military jargon and 5th grade humor is quite literally laughable at some points while the thinly crafted characters are all token “team members” that you’ve seen before in films like Jarhead from the soon-to-be-father who’s not sure if he’s going to make it back to his wife to the new recruit/virgin who’s too young to die to the guy with the chip on his shoulder. We get brief glimpses of their back-stories in the first twenty minutes of the movie but as Nantz says during his Bill Pullman moment when the tide begins to turn “none of that matters now.”
What does matter is that Battle: Los Angeles is a roaring thrill ride that barely lets up from start to finish. From the moment the soldiers hit the streets they’re thrust into a tense and gritty survival situation that vaguely mirrors the urban environments in which our Marines are currently engaged in the Middle East. Liebesman uses handheld cameras and close-ups to capture the calamity of combat giving the picture a documentary quality that helps it find some semblance of individuality. Though his actors aren’t required to do much acting (save for Michael Pena whose small role as a dedicated father stands out) and the script as stated is noticeably sub-par capturing their facial expressions as hovercrafts blow fighter jets out of the sky brings out emotion that most of them wouldn’t be able convey in a more traditional performance.
As I continue to heap praise upon the film’s technical achievements I must also note editor Christian Wagner’s chaotic cuts that heighten the soldier’s state of paranoia and the overall sound design of the picture. Until we get up close and personal with one of the aliens Liebesman doesn’t show us much; we have a hard time seeing them because they move so fast but we can hear their quick movements and the affect is quite unsettling much like the performances from Michelle Rodriguez Ne-Yo and a slew of the films co-stars.
Whether or not the filmmakers originally intended on making a movie that was more than the average alien invasion flick is neither here nor there. Is it a rehash of the most exciting moments in War of the Worlds or Red Dawn? Sure it is but it’s also an electrifying film that manages to be engrossing and entertaining in spite of its flaws.

Tropic Thunder (Dreamworks/Paramount) has clinched another box office crown, becoming only the sixth R-rated movie since 2000 to win three straight weekends. The movie satire scored an excellent $11.5M third weekend, and it should finish the four-day Labor Day weekend with an estimated $14.2M for a new cume of $86.5M. The only other R-rated movies to pull off a hat trick of weekend wins in the past eight years were The Whole Nine Yards (2000), Hannibal (2001), American Pie 2 (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001) and The Passion of the Christ (2002). Even a box office phenomenon like 300 only managed back-to-back three-day victories.
As I forecasted on Friday, Babylon A.D. (Fox) finishes at No. 2, although it will wrap the long Labor Day weekend with just $12M, about 8 percent softer than the $13.1M I originally projected. This concludes a very tough summer for Fox. After scoring a nice hit for What Happens in Vegas ($80M) and salvaging a $65M gross from M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, the studio has released, in succession, Meet Dave ($11.6M), Space Chimps ($28.5M), The X-Files: I Want To Believe ($20.75M), Mirrors ($25.5M), The Rocker ($5M) and now the disappointing Babylon A.D.. The studio released more movies than any of the big six studios this summer (eight), but they finish last in summer box office with about $250M.
The Dark Knight (Warner Bros) is spending its seventh consecutive weekend in the top five, and, as I first reported Friday, The Dark Knight has soared past the $500M barrier sometime on Sunday. The three-day for the mega-hit is about $8.75M according to WB, and the movie will finish the four-day with a very strong $11.3M. By Tuesday morning, the Caped Crusader will be at about $505M domestic. I am now targeting $525M-$530M as a final domestic cume.
Sony's House Bunny is No. 4 for the long weekend with about $10.7M and a new cume of $30.25M, followed by 5th-place Traitor (Overture) which will finish the frame with $10M, giving it $11.5M since opening on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Universal's sing-a-long with Mamma Mia is a huge success. Last weekend, the movie musical generated $4.3M. Add the lyrics at the bottom of the screen and, presto, the ABBA-inspired picture increases by a about 2 percent for $4.41M this weekend. The movie should perform exceedingly well on Monday, reaching a 4-day of about $5.8M for a new cume of $132.9M. That makes it the third biggest grossing musical in modern box office history trailing only Grease ($188M) and Chicago ($131.5M).
Bad news for the maestros of the movie spoof, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. After big box office successes like Scary Movies, Epic Movie, Date Movie and Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie (Lionsgate) has bombed with a mere $7M for 4 days. MGM has also flunked with its new wide release College. With a marginal cast of TV talent, the comedy managed only $2.55M over the long weekend for just a $1,200 Per Theatre Average. Finally, Sundance Film Festival favorite Hamlet 2 (Focus) failed in its expansion to 1,597 locations with a 4-day take of just $2.15M.
FOUR-DAY ESTIMATES
1. Tropic Thunder (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $14.2M, $4,089 PTA, $86.53M
2. NEW - Babylon A.D. (Fox) - $12M, $3,540 PTA, $12M cume
3. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros) - $11.3M, $4,109 PTA, $504.97M cume
4. House Bunny (Sony) - $10.7M, $3,943 PTA, $30.25M cume
5. NEW – Traitor (Overture) - $10M, $4,869 PTA, $11.5M cume
6. Death Race (Universal) - $8.1M, $3,191 PTA, $24.94M cume
7. NEW – Disaster Movie (Lionsgate) - $7M, $2,650 PTA, $7M cume
9. Mamma Mia (Universal) - $5.8M, $3,043 PTA, $132.89M cume
8. Pineapple Express (Sony) - $4.3M, $2,101 PTA, $80.68M cume
10. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Warner Bros) - $4M, $1,637 PTA, $30.9M cume
11. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Weinstein/MGM) - $3.77M, $5,450 PTA, $13.55M cume
12. Mirrors (Fox) - $3.44M, $1,890 PTA, $25.5M cume
*NEW – College (MGM) - $2.55M, $1,201 PTA, $2.55M cume
*Hamlet 2 (Focus) - $2.15M, $1,346 PTA, $3.18M cume

Summer's almost over, so Hollywood's dumping its trash.
Serving Sara, Simone and Undisputed arrived in theaters Friday after enduring production or release delays, which hardly inspires much confidence in their ultimate fates. Accordingly, none of these three new offerings stands a chance of dethroning xXx at the top of the box office. That task lies with fellow holdover Signs. They also won't help reverse a five-week slide in box office takings vs. the same time last year.
Matthew Perry's latest attempt to become a movie star should register the biggest debut simply because the broad comedy opens the widest. Hitting 2,000-plus theaters, Serving Sara stars Perry as a process server who agrees to help Elizabeth Hurley extract revenge against her former business partner. Early reviews confirm that Perry and Hurley are not Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.
Perry's not had too much luck whenever he's ventured off without his sitcom Friends. Almost Heroes ($6.1 million total) and Three to Tango ($10.5 million total) both tanked. The Whole Nine Yards raked in an acceptable $57.2 million mainly on the strength of Bruce Willis' participation--perhaps that's why Perry's so eager to make the sequel. It also doesn't help that this Midnight Run wanna-be will likely see a regurgitation in stories about Perry's personal problems. He held up production of Serving Sara in 2001 while he checked himself into rehab.
So Serving Sara will have to hustle hard and fast to match the $9.7 million debut of another Perry romantic comedy, Fools Rush In, but it won't come close to exceeding its modest $29.2 million total.
Robert De Niro enjoyed huge success when he poked fun at himself in Analyze This and Meet the Parents. Now it's Al Pacino's turn to reveal his comedic side. Rather than send up his tough-guy image, Pacino instead bites the hand that feeds him with the Hollywood satire Simone, directed by The Truman Show scribe Andrew Niccol.
If The Truman Show offered a tragicomic look at reality TV, Simone provides a hysterical look at how easy it is for Hollywood to manufacture a superstar. In this case, Pacino is the has-been producer who creates a computer-generated actress in order to revive his flagging career. An unsuspecting world falls in love with Simone, initially to Pacino's glee, then to his consternation. Catherine Keener, Jay Mohr and an unbilled Winona Ryder co-star.
New Line originally scheduled Simone for an Oct. 12, 2001, release, but pushed it back to this summer for fear it would lose out to stiffer competition. The smart, sophisticated and sharply written Simone deserves better than a late-summer slot, which is tantamount to a fate worse than death. Simone, which will vie mainly for adult audiences at its 1,700-plus theaters, also faces the severe disadvantage of being about the movie industry. Audiences usually reject such films, perhaps because they read and hear enough about Hollywood news and gossip that they have no desire to see films about the moviemaking process. The rare exception was last year's America's Sweethearts, which earned $93.6 million thanks to a cast that included Julia Roberts and Billy Crystal.
Pacino's star still shines bright--Insomnia clocked up $66.8 million earlier this summer--but Simone will do no better than his 1996 flop City Hall, which opened with $6.7 million and closed with $20.2 million.
Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames prepare to beat the living daylights out of each other in Undisputed, director Walter Hill's thriller about two incarcerated boxers determined to settle once and for which one of them is the greatest.
Snipes enjoyed his biggest hit of his career earlier this year with Blade 2 ($81.6 million), but Miramax is showing him little respect. Miramax scheduled for March 8, two weeks before Blade 2's March 22 release. Miramax wisely delayed Undisputed, first pushing it back to October before bumping it up to August in place of They. But Miramax bows Undisputed in just 1,100-plus theaters, which severely limits Snipes from doing knockout business.
Undisputed will do a little more than half the business of Snipes' much-maligned baseball thriller The Fan, which opened with $6.2 million and struck out with $18.5 million. That will come as another disappointment for Hill, who removed his name from his last film, Supernova, and saw it implode with just $14.2 million.
Facing three uncompetitive new releases, Vin Diesel's xXx could be the first film since Black Hawk Down to rule the box office for at least three weekends. The noisy spy thriller, directed by Rob Cohen, dropped 50 percent in its second weekend, from $44.5 million to $22.1 million. That's the same as Diesel and Cohen's The Fast and the Furious, which tumbled 49 percent in its second weekend, from $40 million to $20 million. xXx, however, has made $88.9 million total through Tuesday vs. The Fast and the Furious's $84 million ($86.6 million) during 12 days in release.
xXx stands to make $13.5 million this weekend should it follow The Fast and the Furious's third weekend fall of 38.7 percent. Regardless, xXx will cross the $100 million barrier this weekend and end up with a total just a tad north of The Fast and the Furious's $144.5 million. xXx also is the only film with the potential to achieve blockbuster status until October's Red Dragon.
Diesel's extreme sports-driven spy, though, does face a credible threat from hostile extraterrestrials.
Signs' endurance puts it in a strong position to challenge xXx for box office supremacy. M Night Shyamalan's creepy sci-fi thriller lost just 34 percent of its audience in its third weekend, from $29.4 million to $19.3 million, for a total of $154.9 million through Tuesday. Signs recovered nicely after tumbling 51 percent in its second weekend following its $60.1 million debut.
Mel Gibson should walk away from Signs with his first $200 million smash. Signs also should surpass What Women Want's $182.8 million by Labor Day to become Gibson's biggest earner.
Blood Work, though, won't make Clint Eastwood's day. The intriguing thriller, marred only by its obvious ending, dropped 34 percent in its second weekend from a lowly $7.3 million to $4.8 million. With $16.3 million through Tuesday, Blood Work will exceed True Crime's pitiful $16.6 million but barely make more than 1990's underachieving The Rookie ($21.6 million total).
The waves proved too rocky for the spunky ladies of Blue Crush to negotiate, as the teen-oriented surfing drama opened below expectations with $14.1 million. That paves the way for a second-weekend tumble of around 50 percent. With $17.5 million through Tuesday, Blue Crush should hit the shore with about $40 million.
Blue Crush fared better than The Adventures of Pluto Nash, which opened with a career-low $2.1 million for Eddie Murphy. Warner Bros. kept the sci-fi spoof on the shelf for more than one year and did little to promote its long-delayed release. This is shaping up to be a bad year for Murphy, who already stumbled in the spring with Showtime ($37.9 million total). Murphy desperately needs November's I Spy to reverse his flagging fortunes.
Murphy's fellow ex-SNLers fared somewhat better.
Mike Myers' Austin Powers in Goldmember eased by just 33 percent in its fourth weekend, from $13 million to $8.7 million, after experiencing huge losses in its second and third weekends. Goldmember has $186.3 million through Tuesday vs. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me's $173 million ($174.4 million) through 26 days in release. Goldmember, which could hit $200 million by Labor Day, will make enough people horny to surpass Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me's $206 million total.
Dana Carvey's comeback vehicle Master of Disguise fell a respectable 38 percent in its third weekend, from $5.1 million to $3.1 million. Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams caused untold damage to the family comedy, which suffered a disturbing 59.3 percent in its second weekend after a $12.5 million opening. With $31.2 million through Tuesday, Master of Disguise represents the best showing yet for a Carvey solo venture.
Spy Kids 2 is showing better resilience than the fading Stuart Little 2, which has just $57.7 million through Tuesday. Spy Kids eased by 34 percent in its second weekend, from $16.7 million to $11.5 million, for a $48.7 million total through Tuesday after 14 days in release. Conversely, Spy Kids had $56.6 million ($61.9 million) during the same period. Spy Kids 2 won't match its predecessor's $112.6 million, but its should reach a sturdy $80 million with some ease.
Tom Hanks benefited the most from the lack of interest in the new wide releases. Road to Perdition declined by just 10 percent in its sixth weekend, from $4.2 million to $3.8 million. With $91.1 million through Tuesday, Road to Perdition could become Hanks' sixth consecutive film to cross $100 million by as early as Labor Day.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, executive produced by Hanks, expanded in its 18th week from 723 theaters to 1,060 theaters. That resulted in an 82 percent jump in business, from $3.1 million to $5.7 million, its best weekend yet. The art house sleeper has a staggering $54.6 million through Tuesday.
The art house also seems the destination of choice for adults looking for films of some substance.
One Hour Photo, starring Robin Williams, debuted Wednesday in limited release. The thriller is the third this year to feature Williams as a bad guy.
Possession, featuring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart, opened with a solid $1.5 million at 270 theaters. The romantic drama will expand in the coming weeks.
The Good Girl soared by 454 percent in its second weekend, from $151,642 to $840,660, as it widened from four theaters to 60 theater. Jennifer Aniston's excellent reviews are clearly luring audiences. Perhaps Matthew Perry might consider asking Aniston for some post-Friends career advice.

Top Story
Voters at last night's closing ceremonies of the Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford's annual showcase of independent film, were swayed by women's endeavors. Personal Velocity, a movie trilogy about three women dealing with life-altering experiences, won the grand jury prize for dramatic feature and best dramatic cinematography and Real Women Have Curves won the audience award for best dramatic feature.
The grand jury prize for best documentary went to Daughter From Danang, which follows an Amerasian child's search for her natural mother after she was adopted by an American woman. Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, examines the roles of freedom songs in South Africa's battle over apartheid and took the audience prize for best documentary as well as the annual freedom of expression award.
In General
Somali-American community leaders have called for a boycott of Black Hawk Down, charging that the film depicts their homeland's people as savages, The Associated Press reports. Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justica Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, fears the film could create a backlash against refugees who fled to the United States. Omar cited the death of a Somali man punched at a Minneapolis bus stop in October, which triggered accusations in the Somali and Muslim communities of a hate crime.
Two anti-fur protesters claiming allegiance to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made their way onto the catwalk at Italian designer Donatella Versace's haute couture show in Paris on Saturday, Reuters reports. One woman managed to partially unroll a poster that read "Fur Kills. PETA" before being tackled by security. Stunned audience members included Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, who later exchanged jokes about the incident.
Supermodel Niki Taylor filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Conde Nast (Glamour magazine's parent company), claiming that representatives of British Glamour manipulated and coerced her into exposing scars from her April 2000 car accident for a photo shoot. Taylor claims the photo's publications will result in "irreparable harm" to her career, TheSmokingGun.com reports.
Singer/songwriter Dido won best album and best newcomer at the music industry's NRJ awards in Cannes on Saturday. Jennifer Lopez won best female artist, beating out Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Geri Halliwell and Mariah Carey. Michael Jackson won best male star but was not there to accept his award. The gala kicked off the 36th annual Midem music industry festival.
In Who Wants to be a Millionaire news, seven former and one current star of an Aaron Spelling series will be featured on ABC's Millionaire on Feb. 11, 12 and 13, MediaWeek reports. Scheduled to appear are Shari Belafonte (Hotel), Gabrielle Carteris (Beverly Hills, 90210), Stephen Collins (7th Heaven), Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat), Cheryl Ladd(Charlie's Angels), William Shatner (T.J. Hooker) and Robert Urich (Vegas).
Harry Potter star Rupert Grint has landed a role in a new British film called Thunderpants, Ananova reports. Rupert, who will play a child genius who invents a special pair of pants to help his friend become an astronaut, called it, "the windiest film ever."
For the next 7 days, movie fans who had the opportunity to design the official poster for the upcoming movie Resident Evil starring Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez, will have the power to choose the winning entry. Five semi-finalists have been chosen from more than 3000 entries and their artwork is now posted online at resident-evil-the-movie.com.
Rapper C-Murder has been arrested in the shooting death of a 16-year-old at a nightclub, the AP reports. Police in New Orleans have accused Corey Miller, 30, of fatally shooting Steve Thomas following an argument on January 12, at the Platinum Club in Harvey, La., but the rapper has not yet been formally charged.

Rosie O'Donnell emceed Nickelodeon's 14th annual Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The winners were:
Favorite Movie: How the Grinch Stole Christmas;
Favorite TV Show: Malcolm in the Middle;
Favorite Movie Actor: Jim Carrey;
Favorite Movie Actress: Drew Barrymore;
Favorite TV Actor: Carson Daly;
Favorite TV Actress: Amanda Bynes;
Favorite Cartoon: Rugrats;
Favorite Band: Blink 182;
Favorite Singing Group: Destiny's Child;
Favorite Song: "Who Let the Dogs Out?";
Favorite Female Singer: Britney Spears;
Favorite Male Singer: Lil' Bow Wow;
Favorite Sports Team: Los Angeles Lakers;
Favorite Male Athlete: Tony Hawk; and
Favorite Rising Star: Aaron Carter
Phil Collins welcomes son
Singer Phil Collins, 50, and his third wife Orianne Collins, 28, have welcomed the birth of their first child, a boy named Nicholas Grev Austin. According to People, the baby was born Saturday in Geneva, Switzerland, where the Oscar-winning singer/composer's parents hold residence. Collins has three other children from his previous marriages: Simon, Joley and Lily.
Guild turns to porn?
As the work stoppage created by the actors and writers strikes looms, Hollywood's behind-the-scenes players are turning to the porn industry to keep food on the table. According to The Associated Press, Tinseltown's top editors, cinematographers, grips and others are sending resumes to adult-entertainment studios in an effort to keep working.
"It doesn't sound bad to me," said Hollywood business agent Norm Glasser. "If there's a strike, everybody's on their own, more or less."
Hip-Hop hype
The fifth annual Hip-Hop Awards will be held Thursday, May 3, in New York City. The awards, which honor the best in hip-hop culture, are chosen directly by fans on SOHH.com. Among those performing are Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott and Redman, who will also co-host the show along with rapper and radio icon Angie Martinez. Voting began April and will conclude Friday in 17 categories.
Fergie's focus: TV reporting
Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson, the Duchess of York, is shifting careers, opting for a new job as a reporter for Britain's ITV network. Ferguson, 41, will kick off her new career with a 20-minute expose on Tonight with Trevor McDonald, a popular British current-affairs program. Her segment will focus on the prevalence of obesity in British society.
Ex-"Survivor" Jerri: soap star
The Survivor castaway America loved to hate will turn up on the tube during daytime, according to Reuters. Jerri Manthey will portray herself in an upcoming episode of CBS' The Young and the Restless to air Monday, May 28. CBS spokespeople have indicated that Manthey, 30, could receive an ongoing role on the show if network execs show interest in her talents.